Is Yoga Not For Me? Am I Suitable?

Ever wondered – Is Yoga not for me? I am too young/old for it? I am not flexible enough to do it? Is it only for girls? Then my response is, Yoga is for everyone. Young, old, men, women, strong, weak, mentally challenged, physically challenged and everyone else. For those who think yoga is only for girls, let me tell you yoga was created by men, for men. There is no specific age to practice yoga. There is no specific age to start practicing yoga. You can start at any age, even in your 60’s… all your choice.

Yoga is for all

Yoga for Young too

You don’t have to be flexible to practice yoga, in fact with regular practice you will enhance your flexibility. People with physical or mental disabilities can also practice yoga and get great benefits from it.

Let’s look into some of these concerns more deeply.

Am I not flexible enough?

Yoga is not only splitting your legs into Hanuman-asana or going upside down into Sirs-asana. It is much more than that and it has much more to offer. Watching people making different shapes with their bodies may make you think that you could never do that. You don’t have to do that. We all are different. Our bodies, flexibilities and requirements are all different. One person who is really flexible may not benefit from a certain asana as much as another person” who is not so flexible “can. For example, let’s take seated forward bend or Paschimottan-asana. A person who is not so flexible needs to bend only half the way and do not need to touch their head to their knee to get the benefit. Another person”who is extremely flexible” will not get the benefit of “Forward Bend Pose” unless they bend completely down because they don’t feel any sensation when they stay half way down. The key here is, the moment your body starts making efforts in an asana, you start getting the benefits of it.

Is Yoga boring or too slow?

People also feel they are really strong and fast paced but yoga seems really easy, boring and slow. I would suggest them to try Ashtanga vinyasa. It is not only physically challenging but also a very interesting form of yoga. It will open up another perspective of strength and stamina to you. It will also let you explore and see your body in way you have never seen it.

Physically challenged?

Yoga has evolved with time and now it is available for everyone. There is chair yoga

Which is nothing but using a chair for people who can’t stand on their feet. Almost all the asanas can be modified to be done sitting on the chair. Similarly, for different disabilities there are different ways to make yoga available for every individual.

Not physically/mentally fit enough?

Trust me there is a type of yoga for everyone. Therapeutic yoga provides you healing from many health issues like disk herniation, knee pain, frozen shoulder, migraine etc . There are many certified, trained yoga therapists today. Sign up for a therapy session and get healed. Once you are healed you can start practicing other types of yoga.

There is also yin yoga and restorative yoga which helps you heal mentally and emotionally.

Is Yoga only for women?

If you are under an impression that yoga is too feminine, spiritual, calming then the below fact is for you.

Yoga was created over 5000 years ago by Men for Men.

Yoga was a male-only practice, until the “first lady of yoga” Indra Devi was accepted to study under Sri Krishnamacharya in 1937.

There are various forms of yoga available today. There is one form for each one of us. Just give it a try. After some trial and errors you will definitely find one form that suits you the best.

Author: Monika Rai - RYT

Monika is Certified in Hatha Yoga. She was introduced to yoga by her father when she was 12 years old. Monika is a software engineer by education and has worked in software industry for a few years. She strongly feels that yoga is her calling and the more she does her personal sadhana(self practice) and Svadhyaya(self learning) the more she falls in love with yoga. Teaching yoga for her is not just a career but is to give the best of her yoga knowledge and experience to her students and make tangible and positive difference in their physical, mental and emotional well-being.